Water board appoints Clovis mayor as chair

CLOVIS — The Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority board, which oversees the construction of a water pipeline meant to deliver water to the region, are continuing to collaborate with four other rural water initiatives as a means to collectively appropriate federal funds for the project.

The board also appointed Clovis Mayor Mike Morris to serve as chair of the authority board, during its regular meeting on Thursday.

For the last couple of years, the authority has successfully brought in around $15 million in federal funding for the construction of the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System, which will pump water to Clovis, Cannon Air Force Base, Portales, Texico and Elida.

The other four rural water projects include systems under construction in Missouri, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Montana, a Bureau of Reclamation Rural Water Projects report showed.

According to the report, the ongoing rural water projects, in addition to the local project in New Mexico, are listed as the Garrison Diversion Unit M & I, the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, the Fort Peck Reservation/Dry Prairie Rural Water System, and the Rocky Boy’s/North Central Rural Water System.

Board member John Ryan, a specialist on federal affairs for the authority, said that the joint effort with the other four rural water projects was successful in securing around $130 million in federal funding for the past couple of years.

Ryan said the group requested that Congress and the current administration “fund all five rural water projects at $125 million a year for 10 years, and that would fully fund each of the five rural water projects around the country.”

“And we were successful,” Ryan said. “We got a call Friday to finalize that letter and make our request for the overall rural water amount.”

“When we all five come together and utilize our contacts, and utilize our ability to influence, we do much better,” Ryan added.

Board member Joe Thompson, a former state representative who served in the New Mexico State Legislature when the board was created, said that while he was an elected official in Santa Fe, he saw firsthand how competition for funding stifled projects like the Rural Water System.

“The state is in the middle of a transition period on how they are going to treat projects like ours, and so I think there is a challenge there for us and also an opportunity,” Thompson said.

The board’s next meeting will be held 3 p.m. May 27 at the authority’s office in Clovis.